Qasim Akhtar and Ryan Clayton were shocked to be recognised by a holidaymaker at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.
Ryan – who plays evil Josh Tucker in the ITV soap – was enjoying a relaxing lads’ holiday in the south-east Asian country with former co-star Qasim, who recently departed his role as Zeedan Nazir in the show, and he was surprised to be spotted by a Greater Manchester local.
He said: "We climbed 1,237 steps to see a temple just as the sun was setting, which was cool, and there was a bloke from Bury who recognised us at an elephant sanctuary."
Ryan also hinted he was slightly surprised that Qasim joined him on the trip, because the former ‘Shameless’ star was initially just giving him tips about where to go before joining him.
He said: "I went to Thailand recently with Qasim Akhtar. I’d been talking about going away, and Qas had been giving me tips as he’d been before – and just ended up coming with me.
"I think once people saw us together, they thought it was a case of ‘Corrie’ lads on tour."
Ryan has been involved in some hard-hitting scenes as rapist Josh since he joined ‘Corrie’ earlier this year, but he received some "good advice" from fellow soap villain Connor McIntyre, who played serial killer Pat Phelan until he was killed off earlier this month.
He added to Inside Soap magazine: "Connor McIntyre, who played Phelan, was really helpful.
"He said, ‘You will have a timeline on you, and while other characters have their own worlds in ‘Coronation Street’, and those worlds intertwine, you have to play a whole different genre within the Street and focus on that.’
"It was good advice."
Qasim Akhtar and Ryan Clayton’s Thai surprise
